I invite your prayerful attention
this evening to the words found in the chapter we read together
in Acts chapter 12 and we'll take as our text verse 5. Acts
chapter 12 and verse 5. Peter therefore was kept in prison
but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Acts chapter 12 and verse 5. The reason why we've sung two
hymns about prayer is because this is very early in the early
New Testament church and of course the Lord Jesus had ascended to
heaven where he ever lives to make intercession for us. And
when we pray, it is he who makes our prayers acceptable before
his father in heaven. And of course, the Holy Spirit
is he who helps us to pray. But the church at this time was
sorely persecuted. And as we read, the church had
much reason to gather for prayer. What we see in this portion of
scripture, this chapter 12, is that there were three things
that King Herod did. Firstly, he vexed the church,
he killed James, and imprisoned Peter. We also see here there
are three things that God did. He caused and heard prayer. God permitted Peter to be in
prison, but he heard prayer for him.
And also, the second thing is that God delivered and released
Peter from the prison. And lastly, God's Word prospered. It's a wonderful thing, we read
at the close of that chapter, in verse 24, that the Word of
God grew and multiplied. Now this God is He whom we worship
this evening. The background of this, of course,
is that the Pharisees and Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or if they did believe it, they
wouldn't hold to it. And the outcome of that was that persecution
became very common among the early church. What we read, if
we just turn back a few pages to the last chapter in Matthew,
it's very clearly put there how this persecution began and how
it continued. This is, it all began on the
glorious resurrection day. Matthew 28 and I'll read a few verses from that
chapter. Matthew 28 and verse one, we
read, in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the
first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great
earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven
and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon
it. His countenance was like lightning,
and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers
did shake and became as dead men. Remember, Pilate told them,
you have a guard, you have a watch, make sure that this man who said
he would rise again on the third day did not rise. And so the
keepers were appointed. The angel said unto the women,
Fear not ye, for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. Now go to verse 11, and we'll
read a few verses from there. Verse 11 in chapter 28 of Matthew. Now when they were going, behold,
some of the watch came into the city and showed unto the chief
priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled
with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money
unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night
and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's
ears, we will persuade him and secure you. So they took the
money and did as they were taught, And this saying is commonly reported
among the Jews until this day. How sad. These highly religious
Pharisees would believe a lie rather than rejoice in the glorious
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Herod gained favor with these
Pharisees by persecuting the church, the
early New Testament church of our Lord Jesus. This Herod was
Herod Agrippa I. He would have been the grandson
of the King Herod who was on the throne at the time of the
birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this King Herod gained favour
with the Pharisees by attempting to destroy the New Testament
Church. And it's worth noticing that
Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul the Apostle, until the appointed
time of his conviction and conversion on that Damascus road, was all
out to destroy the New Testament Church. But what we read is that
as he journeyed, and he was on a mission to persecute God's
people, as he journeyed on that Damascus road, we read, a light
shined right about him, brighter than the noonday sun. This was
the presence of the glorious risen Lord Jesus. And when he
heard him, he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He was
struck down. He lost his sight for a time
with the brightness of the Lord Jesus, in all his glorious power. He said, who art thou, Lord?
Jesus said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. Note the Lord
Jesus didn't say, I am Jesus, my church you are persecuting.
He said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. Surely this shows
to us that Jesus feels for all our agony and all our distress. And therefore, these people that
were with him, with the Apostle Paul at that time, they heard
a voice but they saw no man. But the Lord Jesus met with the
Apostle Paul and he completely turned his life round. And the
Apostle Paul from that time on, was an instrument in God's hand
to bring the glorious good news of the Gospel mainly to the Gentile
people. The Apostle Peter's work was
mainly among the Jews. But the New Testament Church
of the Lord Jesus Christ was vexed by so much opposition. It's interesting to note in this
account, it says, them were the days of unleavened bread. We
read that in verse three. The unleavened bread, of course,
was the time that they normally celebrated the coming out of
Egyptian slavery, the children of Israel coming out of Egypt,
and the Passover. And so, There will be a great
number of practicing Jews in Jerusalem, zealous to preserve
the Old Testament teaching. And what came to pass was that while
they were there, after Easter, it says that intending asterisk to bring Peter
forth to the people. You can see how Herod's evil
mind was working. If there were thousands of people
present in Jerusalem at that time, when he brought forth Peter
to be executed, there'd be so many witnesses that they would
be afraid to oppose him. But he hadn't reckoned on the
power of prayer and the power of God. Peter therefore was kept in prison,
we read, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him. We see here the power of God
in giving prayer. and Peter being delivered. God
answers prayer. The Apostle Peter still had a
work to do. We read, I think it's in the book of Revelation,
behold I set before you an open door and no man can shut it.
No, not even an earthly king can shut the door of the gospel.
If the Lord has a work for the Apostle Peter to continue to
do, it will be done. But there was Peter, and it had
been a high security prison, below ground level, I understand,
and with no easy means of escape. There had been four quaternions
of guards, 16 soldiers in shifts, to guard him. Peter's friends could not come
to see him or take him out, but prayer was made. It would seem
that James, of whom we read in the second verse, would have
been arrested and his life would have been taken quite abruptly.
But this time, in God's sovereign hand, because of the coming up
towards the celebration of the Unleavened Bread, there were
a few days, it might have only been one or two days, wherein
the Church of God could gather for prayer. And we must remember
that they were at this time persecuted. They might have met in small
groups, but time was given. And Peter was under God's providence. These few days were appointed.
We cannot tell how, but God was at work in these things. If we look at the prayer of Asaph
in Psalm 50, we read, call upon me in the day of trouble. I will
answer thee. and thou shalt glorify me. And
this, even in this sad situation, God has said, I will be praised. I will be glorified. And we read that prayer was made
without ceasing. Peter therefore was kept in prison,
but prayer was made without ceasing. There was an ongoing prayer.
You can imagine them going to work in the morning and concentrating
on their work. Yes, but a spirit of prayer was
still in their heart. And it would seem on the very
night that Peter was to be brought in the morning to be executed,
they thought that prayer was still being made that night without
ceasing. And I was most interested when
I was studying this to find out that the same term in the original
language, prayer without ceasing, is very similar to the way the
Lord Jesus prayed in an agony in the Garden of Gethsemane,
when he prayed, if it be possible, let this cut pass from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done. And so that spirit of prayer
was earnest and urgent and it was made without ceasing. What
a blessing it is that we have that same throne of grace and
as we pray for those whose souls we daily pray for that they might
be brought into a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus be brought
out of nature's darkness and into his most marvellous light. We cannot stop praying, can we? We will pray without ceasing. God has said, in due time ye shall reap if
ye faint not. May the Lord preserve us from
fainting in prayer. but rather give to us their earnest
and urgent prayer to him for the souls of those for whom we
continue to pray. But these people continue to
pray. This deliverance came right at
the time He was seen very early in the
morning. Prayer was being made all night.
These people were still praying at night, weren't they? Behold, the angel of the Lord
came upon him, and a light shined in the prison. It was dark. The light shined in the prison,
and he smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, arise
up quickly. and his chains fell off from
his hands. If his hands were shackled, tied
at the wrists, and he was chained to a soldier either side, as
soon as he stirred, you would think the soldier would wake
up. But just as God caused those
on that glorious day of resurrection to fall down as dead men, these
soldiers could have been made unconscious by God's hand. And
when the angel smoked Peter on the side and raised him up quickly,
what we do know is, what we read in the scriptures, somehow, under
God's hand, God would have the ability to change the shape of
the shackles or whatever. What we do know is, that the
chains fell off. and rise up quickly, and his
chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him,
gird thyself and bind on thy sandals. Now this detail in the
scripture is well worth noting. Bind on thy sandals. Peter still
had a work to do in the gospel. He still had the grace of God
to proclaim. The work of Peter went on till
he was a very elderly man. And we read of the gospel armour
in the Epistle to the Ephesians where the Apostle Paul says about
having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace. And the Apostle Peter therefore needed to have his
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace whereby
he might walk in the ways of God and stand his ground when
opposed and hold forth the word of life to those to whom he was
sent, the likes of Cornelius and so on. And so he obeyed the
words of the angel who came with the instructions from God and
bind on thy sandals, and so he did. And he saith unto him, cast
thy garment about thee, and follow me. This all happened not long before Herod was about
to bring him forth. And it's quite remarkable And
we read a very similar situation in the book of Esther, where
the Jewish people were about to be massly executed because
they were Jews. And Esther and Mordecai, the same
day, God delivered them That great nation, I think it was
27 states, they were scattered throughout. And word went round
and there was much prayer. And God's people were delivered. Had not God intervened at that
time, it could well be that the tribe of Judah would have disappeared,
of whom The Lord Jesus was to be born. But God intervened. And here we have a top security
prison. Peter is freed from his chains.
He's all dressed, ready to go. And he went out and followed
him. What a blessing it is to be given
grace to follow where the Lord leads. The Lord Jesus is the
good shepherd and we read of the shepherd that his sheep hear
his voice and follow him. He knows them. They follow him. May we follow Jesus. He should encourage us to think
that if we feel our need to follow Jesus, it is because we have
heard his voice, he has condescended to work in our hearts and therefore
we should be encouraged to think that God is referring to those
that follow him as his sheep. He followed the angel and we
read that Peter wished not that it was true which was done by
the angel, but thought he saw a vision. There were bolted doors, metal
chains, armed guards. But that is no problem to God.
And even the hardest heart, God is able to overcome. It's no
problem in God's hand to work in the hearts of people, according
to his will and purpose, he is able to do all things according
to the counsel of his own will. And here we see Peter being delivered
from that prison. The power of God, the angel who
was the messenger of God, was the ministering spirit who came
into that prison. In all that pitch darkness there
was a light and yet there was no opposition from the guards. Peter's friends no doubt were
still praying for Peter and we may be sure that Peter while
in the prison prayed for his friends. The Pharisees might have been
very anxious. And we know that the anger of
Herod was at work. But it would seem that there
was more peace in Peter's heart than they began to realize. Before the angel came and smote
Peter on the side, we read that Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers. He was resting in the Lord. What
a situation to be in, to think that the next day he might suffer
death as a martyr, the same as Stephen had, and yet he was at
peace. What a peace was put into his
heart. Peter may have felt separated
from his fellow men, But he was about to know that
he was not separated from his God. And we, dear friends, are
subject to our fears, aren't we? Our feelings. We change. God cannot change. God is immutable,
we read in the scriptures. And I hope to have more of that
blessing that was given to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What did
they say? Our God, whom we serve, is able
to deliver us, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O King. They weren't careful to answer
him, were they? We don't even read that they had to get together
and find out their answer. No, they answered unitedly. We
are not careful to answer the O King. We know that our God
is able to deliver us, and he did deliver. And of course, the
king was given a vision of the person of God, even in that fiery
furnace. What do we read? The king looked
and he said, did not we cast three men bound into the fiery
furnace? And behold, I see four. And the
form of the fourth is like unto the son of God. So this angel came with an urgent
mission and Peter is now on his way out
of the prison. They went past the first and
second ward and then they came to the iron gate which leadeth
unto the city which opened to them of his own accord. And I think we find some teaching
here friends. This iron gate which would have
been bolted so that none could come in and none could go out. God's almighty hand so worked
that that was no problem to God whatsoever. He who created all
things is able to work according to his own mind and will and
according to his purpose. And this gate that the angel walked up to,
and with Peter with him, we don't read that either of them put
their hand to the gate. They came to the iron gate that
leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of his own accord,
and they went out. Now dear friends, I speak especially
to our young friends, If God has put into your heart the fear
of the Lord and you're seeking him, I know from experience that as
we begin in the Christian life, the enemy of souls will prompt
us and say yes. You think you are seeking the
Lord Jesus as your savior, but this thing could be all your
own thoughts. But dear friend, if you haven't
put your own hand to it, it is the work of God. So be encouraged. If God is leading you in the
paths of righteousness for his name's sake, and bringing you
into a knowledge of your need, And that need is causing you
to seek for salvation, be encouraged. God is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek him. And if you have not put your
own hand to this, it must be the work of God. We don't read
that Peter pushed on that gate and it opened. No, this gate
opened to him, opened to them of his own accord and they went
out. Out of that darkness of the dungeon
and the prison and out into the street. They passed on through one street
and forthwith the angel departed. What a blessing. Peter was then
free from that prison. But what we read is, that God
took care of him. When Peter was come to himself,
he said, now I know of a surety that the Lord has sent his angel
and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the
expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered
the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John,
whose surname was Mark, where many were gathering together
praying. Yes, they didn't need to be in
the synagogue or in the temple. They were in a house, and you
can imagine that house crowded with people praying one after
the other. Prayer was made without ceasing. And it so happened at that time
that there was a young lady there by the name of Rhoda who heard
Peter knocking at the door. You can imagine her, this young
girl. She would have known Peter's
voice. She would have heard him pray. You may be sure she'd heard
him preach. She would have known it was Peter's
voice. You know, when you and I pick the telephone up, quite
often you don't need to say who you are. As soon as you speak,
they seem to know your voice. And while Peter was outside knocking
at the door, those people were knocking at the door of prayer.
And God was already answering their prayer. Rhoda came to hearken. And you can imagine other people,
there might have been many, even Pharisees living in the same
street. They might have been fast asleep. And Peter was there
knocking at the door. And she ran outside to the gate
and came back. And what did they say? Peter's
outside? They aren't mad. But she constantly affirmed that
it was even so. Then they said, it is his angel.
But Peter continued knocking. And when they had opened the
door, they saw him. They were astonished. But he
beckoning unto them with his hand to hold their peace, declared
unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he
said, go show these things unto James and to the brethren, and
he departed. Now, it's rather like, you can imagine,
we use the expression, too good
to be true. We read of those who saw the
Lord Jesus after the resurrection, and we read, they believe not
for joy, It was more than they could physically understand. But God is beyond our thoughts,
and his ability is the greatest of all. He it is who placed that
all-powerful sun in the sky. He made the stars also. The greatness
of God is beyond all our comprehension. God had brought Peter out of
prison. In the same way that Daniel prayed, God heard Daniel's
prayer. And Daniel was delivered from
the lion's mouth, wasn't he? And we can be sure that just
as Rhoda had heard Peter's voice and heard Peter pray, she well
knew that it was Peter. Not a spy or an informer, but
it was Peter himself. We read that they were astonished. But remember, Peter was still
in danger. What happened to him? Go, show these things unto James
and to the other brethren. And he departed and went into
another place. It's as though God put Peter
in a place where he could not be found. God knew that King
Herod would go down to Caesarea, and he would not spend time looking
for him when he could not be found. And therefore, God hid him. God put him in a place where
he could not be found. In the same way that we read about Elijah.
Just come to my thoughts. Elijah was told to go to King
Ahab, forecasted three years of drought. It was a judgment put on the people for
their idolatry. And Ahab became the enemy of
Elijah. Although Ahab went to him boldly
with that message, there shall not be dune or rain these years
but according to my word. And then we read straight away
that the Lord took care of Elijah by the brook Cherith. And the
ravens, they bought him bread and meat in the morning, and
bread and meat in the evening, and he drunk from the brook.
He was there till the brook dried up. And then he went up to Zarephath,
where the widow woman sustained him, and what a remarkable account
that was. But he was taken care of to the
extent that Ahab ceased to search for Elijah,
did not believe that he was there because he could not be found.
Neither could they find Peter. Verse 18 we read, he was kept
so safe by God, as soon as it was day there was no small stir
among the soldiers. What was become of Peter? And
when Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined
the keepers and commanded that they should be put to death.
And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and their abode. Bible scholars, and I tend to
agree with them, say that it's quite possible
that those keepers of the prison might have been spared because
Herod was in such a hurry to go to Caesarea that this might
well have been not carried out. and therefore their lives were
being preserved. After all, they were not guilty, were they? They
were only under Herod's command. But as we read, Herod was highly
displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with
one accord. This was because there wasn't
much land and they were dependent on the king's country to feed
them. And of course we read that Blasphemous
had already forecast a drought at that time. But what a sad end Herod came to. He who had persecuted the church,
imprisoned Peter. And then we read the word of
God, the three things that God did. And the last one was that the
word of God grew and multiplied. And what a blessing it is that
even the very words here are almost repeated, and I think
it's the last recorded words of the Apostle Peter. Peter,
who was a faithful servant of God all those years, and in his
last epistle, second epistle of Peter and the third chapter,
closes with these words. Remember, we read, the word of
God grew and multiplied. And now Peter puts this in a
personal way to all believers. And it's a word to us, I believe,
this evening, that growing grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever. And so, what a blessing it is
that we can read God's word and we trust we can feed from it.
And in the words we've been looking at this evening, we see the hand
of God at work in a mighty way whereby the evil designs of King
Herod were overturned and the word of God continued and multiplied. And Barnabas and
Saul, we read, returned to Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their
ministry and took with him John, whose surname was Mark. So may it please almighty God
to make his word a blessing to the souls around the world so
that salvation by grace might flow out from God's almighty
hand to his praise and above all else to his glory. May the
Lord bless his word to us. For his name's sake. Amen.